The European Union praised Aung San Suu Kyi’s progress on human rights in the country and has declared it would not be introducing a resolution of condemnation in the United Nations.
This is the first time in 15 years, the EU, generally a staunch critic of the country’s dismal human rights situation, will not be condemning the country at the UN. The news coming soon after the US declaration to lift sanctions is another feather in the cap for Suu Kyi, who is leading the diplomatic initiative.
Addressing the Partnership Group on Myanmar at the United Nations General Assembly, EU Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini called Suu Kyi’s progress from political prisoner to government “powerful testimony to the incredible change Myanmar is going through.”
Reuters quoted Mogherini as saying that steps had also “been taken against those who incite hatred” and a commission established under former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to address violence between majority Buddhists and Muslim Rohingyas in Myanmar’s state of Rakhine.
The EU delegate also told Suu Kyi, “I know that you are working hard to find a sustainable solution for both communities.”
The decision is another blow for the beleaguered Rohingya community that has relied almost solely on international pressure to stave off ethnic cleansing in Arakan state.
